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Artist: Daydreamer |
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‘Daydreamer’ is the debut release from Swiss band Daydreamer, a band that haven’t gone for the Gotthard clone approach, but have taken the country by storm in their somewhat short existence with a more Melodic often Progressive Metal approach their sound. Mixing heavy driven guitars courtesy of Peter Berger, with a punishing rhythm section of Alain Schwaller on bass, Boris De Roche on drums and the atmospheric keyboards of Biagio Aeberhard, the cherry on the top of it all is the very capable vocals of Jean-Marc Viller. The album gets underway with ‘I Am F…’ and from the off you can tell what the band are all about with this Progressive opener, with Viller showing his metal credentials from the start and this is backed up by the heady bass of Schwaller and the pulsating drums of De Roche. Things continue with ‘Guardian Angel’, a more guitar and keyboard orientated track, still with that powerful backbone of a rhythm section. Next up is the track 'Secret Desire', which is the one that really sets the ball rolling for me with a more Melodic Hard rock feel to it and where Berger is really set free to show off his guitar skills. The same melodic feel is continued with the keyboard infused ‘Dreamtale’. A track that has that real vintage Magnum feel about it. Such is the complexity of this album you find yourself bringing in different band comparisons from both the hard and soft rock fields, as well as some of the more progressive elements. The pace is picked up once again as we journey along the more progressive metal road with ‘Paralyzed’, before things slow down once more with ‘Hand In Hand’, a song that can perhaps be best described as a Prog Ballad. The band keep the Progressive side to their sound with ‘Philosophy’, then bring in a touch of slightly heavier guitars and bass. This also allows Viller to give us his best vocal performance of the album so far. The band raise the bar once more with my favourite track off the album the superb ‘You Better Run Now’, another bass and drum driven track with the keyboards and guitars not far behind. ‘I Wont Follow You’ takes the bands almost to the Symphonic Metal edge with this massive sounding epic, before really letting Berger loose on the riff laden metal fest that is ‘Glass Prison’. This very impressive debut comes to a close with ‘Slaves Of Our Fantasy’, a track which sees the band dip their feet once again into the progressive metal pool. This haunting and poignant song is a great way to end what has been a great big melting pot of styles and a steady balance of variety which is sometimes lacking in other bands releases.
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Tracklisting:
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